Police: Brooklyn Center Officer Meant to Draw Taser, Not Gun

BROOKLYN CENTER (AP) -- The police chief in a Minneapolis suburb where a Black man was fatally shot during a traffic stop says he believes the officer who fired intended to use a Taser, not a handgun.

Police Chief Tim Gannon described the shooting as ``an accidental discharge.''

The man identified by relatives as 20-year-old Daunte Wright died Sunday in Brooklyn Center, a city of about 30,000 people on the northwest border of Minneapolis.

His death sparked violent protests, with officers in riot gear clashing with demonstrators into Monday morning.

Governor Tim Walz address the media Monday afternoon. He says it's understandable the anger people feel, but there are other ways to express it then by causing damage to our communities.

This is a call to us again, to Minnesota and the nation. We have the ability to reduce the chance of this happening, to put things into place to make a difference, and the ability to create a space for peaceful protest and a no tolerance for those who wish to do harm or destruction. Those things can happen together.

Walz has also issued an overnight curfew from 7:00 p.m. Monday to 6:00 a.m. Tuesday for Hennepin, Ramsey and Anoka.

The Minneapolis area was already on edge because of the trial of the first of four
police officers charged in George Floyd's death.